Alexander Erich 2015 Prevention of Domestic Violence in Tajikistan

311 Pages·2015·3.26 MB·English

From ‘programme transplants’ to ‘local approaches’:
the prevention of domestic violence against women
in Tajikistan

Dissertation

zur Erlangung der Würde des
Doktors der Philosophie
der Fakultät für Geisteswissenschaften
der Universität Hamburg

vorgelegt von
Alexander Erich
aus Düsseldorf

Hamburg, den 3. April 2015 (Druckjahr)
Datum der Disputation:
Dienstag, 14. Juli 2015

Prüfungskommission:
Prof. Dr. Frank Bliss (Erstgutachter, Vorsitzender)
Prof. Dr. Michael Schnegg (Zweitgutachter)
Prof. Dr. Cord Jakobeit
Eidesstattliche Versicherung

Hiermit versichere ich an Eides statt, dass ich die Dissertation selbst verfasst und
keine anderen als die angegebenen Hilfsmittel benutzt habe. Die Arbeit wurde nicht
schon einmal in einem früheren Promotionsverfahren angenommen oder als
ungenügend beurteilt.

Bonn, den 3. April 2015
For my sons,
Yamani, Oskar, Paul and Benno
This study would have not been possible without the help of many colleagues, friends
and family, who advised and motivated me; thank you all for your unwavering
support! I particularly want to thank Goulya Petrova, Firuza Jobirova, Dr David
Cownie and Prof Dr Frank Bliss. Of course, nothing would have worked out without
the generosity and patience of Mareile, whose love and friendship I am deeply
grateful for.
Table of contents

List of acronyms and abbreviations iii
List of figures iv
List of tables iv
List of pictures iv

1. Introduction 1

1.1 The international challenge of domestic violence prevention 3
1.1.1 The ‘neglected obvious’ of international development 5
1.1.2 Shaping a response to domestic violence in Tajikistan 9

1.2 Exploring new ground in theory and practice 12
1.2.1 Expanding the anthropological engagement with domestic violence 12
1.2.2 Programme transplants and local approaches 16
1.2.3 Lack of evaluative evidence and programmatic guidance 21

1.3 Objectives and structure of the study 25

2. Conceptual framework and methods 29

2.1 Key terms 29
2.1.1 An anthropological perspective on domestic violence 35

2.2 Conceptual framework 44
2.2.1 The global normative framework 44
2.2.2 ‘Glocalisation’ processes 46
2.2.3 Identifying key elements for creating local approaches 50

2.3 Methodology 58
2.3.1 Research methods 58
2.3.2 Limitations and positioning 70

3. Key elements for creating local approaches in Tajikistan 79

3.1 Framing: Tajik identity, Islam and gender 79
3.1.1 Pre-Soviet Tajikistan 81
3.1.2 Soviet period 84
3.1.3 The quest for Tajik identity since independence 92
3.1.4 Gender as an identity marker 99
3.1.5 A new gender order? 112

3.2 Recognising structural conditions: economic and social development 114
3.2.1 Income poverty 116
3.2.2 Employment and migration 117
3.2.3 Education, health and social security 121

3.3 Building partnerships: governance and institutional weaknesses 124
3.3.1 Challenges of local governance 124
3.3.2 Policy framework for gender equality in place… 128
3.3.3 …but no public response to domestic violence 132
3.3.4 Weak support for victims of domestic violence 136
3.3.5 Traditional and non-governmental efforts 138

i
3.4 Re-defining the target group: domestic violence in Tajikistan 141
3.4.1 Prevalence of physical and emotional violence 141
3.4.2 Characteristics of domestic violence in Khatlon 146
3.4.3 Acceptability of domestic violence 155
3.3.4 Women’s support-seeking behaviour 161

4. Local prevention approaches in practice: the PDV project 165

4.1 Project management 166
4.1.1 Management set-up 166
4.1.2 Local NGOs as implementing partners 170
4.1.3 Development of programme design 173

4.2 Project concept and activities 180
4.2.1 PDV Intervention Model / Theory of Change 180
4.2.2 Enlisting local stakeholders (component 1) 185
4.2.3 Strengthening victim support services (component 2) 191
4.2.4 Increasing exposure to preventative messages (component 3) 203

4.3 Project results 213
4.3.1 Outcome 1: supportive local environment 213
4.3.2 Outcome 2: enhanced access to quality services 218
4.3.3 Outcome 3: increased exposure to preventative messages 221
4.3.4 Impact: reduced acceptability of domestic violence 222

5. Conclusions 230

6. References 245

Annex 270

Annex 1: PDV Logframe 270
Annex 2: Material on PDV surveys 2009 and 2011 272

ii
List of acronyms and abbreviations
ADB Asian Development Bank
AJJR Alternative Justice and Justice Reform project
BCC Behaviour Change Communication
CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
CoFWA Committee for Family and Women’s Affairs
FGD Focus Group Discussion
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GOPA Gesellschaft für Organisation, Planung und Ausbildung
GoT Government of Tajikistan
GTG Gender Theme Group
HDI Human Development Index
IPV Intimate Partnere Violence
JJAP Juvenile Justice Alternatives project
KII Key Informant Interview
MDG Millennium Development Goal
MENA Middle East and North Africa
MICS Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey
MoH Ministry of Health
MoIA Ministry of Internal Affairs
MoJ Ministry of Justice
MoLSP Ministry of Labour and Social Protection
MoU Memorandum of Understanding
NDS National Development Strategy
NetLAC Network of Legal Aid Centres project
NGO Non-Governmental Organisation
ODA Official Development Assistance
OECD Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
OSCE Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe
OSI Open Society Institute
PD4 Political Division 4 of the Swiss Foreign Ministry
PDV Prevention of Domestic Violence project
PMU Project Management Unit
ProDoc Project Document
ProVAW Project Against Violence Against Women
PRSP Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper
RCT Randomised Control Trial
SDC Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
SIAPAC Social Impact Assessment and Policy Analysis Corporation
TJS Tajik somoni (4,99190TJS = 1 USD, Sep 21, 2014)
TLSS Tajikistan Living Standards Survey
UN United Nations
UPR Universal Periodic Review
WHO World Health Organisation

iii
List of figures
Fig. 1: WHO typology of violence 30
Fig. 2: WHO ecological model of violence 43
Fig. 3: Conceptual framework: key elements for creating local approaches 51
Fig. 4: Location of study area in Tajikistan 59
Fig. 5: Map of Tajikistan 79
Fig. 6: Women’s lifetime prevalence of physical domestic violence in Khatlon by type, 2009 143
Fig. 7: Women’s lifetime prevalence of emotional violence in Khatlon by type, 2009 145
Fig. 8: Prevalence of women’s physical and emotional domestic violence by age, 2011 149
Fig. 9: Women’s prevalence of physical and emotional domestic violence by level of 151
economic dependence on husband’s parents, 2011
Fig. 10: Perceived acceptability of forms of physical domestic violence in Tajik culture, 156
Khatlon, in %
Fig. 11: Culturally acceptable circumstances for severe physical domestic violence, Khatlon, 158
in %
Fig. 12: ‘The thing about even severe physical discipline of a wife by her husband, 162
assuming that it does not pose a risk to her life, is that it is a family affair, not
something that should involve someone outside the family’, in %
Fig. 13: PDV Intervention Model 181
Fig. 14: ‘When you need help or have a serious problem with your husband/long-term 215
partner, and you need outside assistance, are there any officials or organisations
that you feel that you could rely on to help you solve this problem?‘ (in %), women
only, 2009 and 2011
Fig. 15: ‘Even if a woman is severely physically disciplined by her husband, there is little use 217
in reporting it to the police, because the police would side with the husband’ (in %),
men, 2009 and 2011
Fig. 16: Access to support services (in %), 2009 and 2011 219
Fig. 17: Perceived changes in the acceptability of selected forms of physical domestic 227
violence over the past two years (in %), 2011

List of tables
Tab. 1: Prevalence of lifetime physical domestic violence in international comparison (in %) 4
Tab. 2: Acceptability of circumstances for physical domestic violence (in %) 38
Tab. 3: Typology of gender markers according to interpretation of Islam 111
Tab. 4: Overview of PDV’s project design responses to context factors 233

List of pictures
Pic. 1: The author with project partners from NGO Ghamkori, December 2008 62
Pic. 2: Community meeting with local stakeholders in Bohktar, April 2012 188
Pic. 3: Flipchart with the message ‘Domestic violence leads to unhealthy families’ 206
Pic. 4: Billboard with the message ‘Domestic violence is a crime’, April 2010 207
Pic. 5: The PDV brand logo 210
Pic. 6: Mulloh endorses messages against domestic violence 211

iv
1. Introduction
On a sunny day in the spring of 2012, I was invited to attend a meeting of
community stakeholders in a village in Khatlon region, in southern Tajikistan.
Gathered in the compound of a wealthy resident were the staff members of the
local non-governmental organisation (NGO) that had called the meeting, the
religious leader (mulloh) of the district, a representative of local government, a
police officer, may be thirty or so members of the community and myself. I was
participating in my role as the former manager of the project that was funding the
NGO, and I was particularly keen to see how our partners were putting into
practice the project’s new advocacy strategy. For three years, I had been the
project manager of the German firm contracted by the Swiss Agency for
Development and Cooperation (SDC) to implement the ‘Prevention of Domestic
Violence’ (PDV) project in Tajikistan. Our team had invested considerable energy
into enhancing the project’s strategy and supporting our partner NGOs to
innovate their approaches. The afternoon turned out to reveal some interesting
observations. Women were seated separately from the men, divided by a curtain
to obstruct the two groups from seeing each other. However, female NGO staff
and the female local government representative interacted openly with the men of
the village. Taking turns, the police officer, the government representative, the
NGO and finally the mulloh gave a speech on the importance of keeping peace in
the family. Then the men had an intense exchange of views, while the women
behind the curtain merely listened. After the meeting, the mulloh invited me for
tea and a chat. He explained to me his view on domestic violence by interpreting
the Quran: physical violence was not a proper Islamic way for a husband to solve
a conflict with his wife. However, husbands did have the responsibility to
discipline and educate their wives.
The almost invisible women at the community meeting and the opinion of the
mulloh - apparently one of the most important change agents that the PDV
project works with - are not what most people in Europe or the United States
usually have in mind when thinking about initiatives for women’s rights. Certainly,
projects should challenge existing patriarchal norms and structures and provide a
space for women’s empowerment. However, for the local NGO partners this is
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